China Southern Airlines has returned to International Aero Engines for V2500 turbofans for its latest batch of 50 Airbus A320s in an engine deal valued at $1.35 billion. China's biggest carrier has been using V2500s for 10 years on MD-90s and A320 family aircraft.
Singapore's Tiger Airways is turning itself into a franchise business like a fast-food chain, sidestepping restrictions on traffic rights in Southeast Asia and, in effect, forming an airline alliance in which the affiliated carriers trade solely under the brand of the group, not under their own names.
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The political, military and economic issues that shape a year for the aviation and aerospace industries are sometimes foreseeable, sometimes not. So with the understanding that much of what matters in 2007 will unfold as we go along, here are six issues that we can say from the outset need attention and will get it in these pages, early and often.
German accident investigators are expected to release initial findings on the crash of the Grob Aerospace SPn utility jet prototype in the coming weeks. What's already clear, though, is that the program, already fighting an uphill schedule battle, now faces further delays. The Nov. 29 crash of the second SPn prototype killed the company's chief test pilot, Gerard Guillaumaud, and has forced Grob to restructure SPn development plans. Design changes loom, company officials acknowledge. What those will be depends on the investigators' findings.
Airline insurance premiums late last month were on track to reach $1.66 billion, the lowest level in five years, according to insurance broker AON. Good safety performance in recent years, and the supply of aviation insurance, have driven premiums down.
FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nicholas A. Sabatini, for raising the global bar on air safety. The FAA Aviation Safety organization has become the first federal agency to achieve certification to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2000 quality management standard as a single corporate management system. The FAA covers multiple services globally with 6,462 employees. Other agencies, such as NASA, have achieved ISO certification for separate sites.
Israel's Elta Systems has chosen India's Larsen & Toubro and Astra Microwave as offset partners to source components and software to build medium-range radars for the Indian air force. Larsen & Toubro, one of India's largest private-sector companies, specializes in design and manufacture of components and subsystems for aerospace applications. Astra develops and supplies modules for radars and supplies microwave components for the Defense Research Development Organization's Akash and Trishul missiles.
Watching L-3 Communications Holdings' new CEO, Michael Strianese, at the recent Aviation Week/Credit Suisse Finance Conference invoked memories of his predecessor, the late Frank Lanza. While Strianese was more polished--the famously blunt Lanza used to label Wall Street analysts "morons"--he won high marks from investors for his direct, no-nonsense presentation. Unfortunately, Strianese's blueprint included sales and earnings forecasts that assumed L-3 would win renewal of a multibillion-dollar contract to provide translators for the U.S. military.
Emirates Airlines is increasing its Middle East service, saying its steps will boost available regional capacity 6%. Services to Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon will be the main beneficiaries. Kuwait's recent open-sky policy has allowed that connection to expand.
Vigilant Shield 2007: A 1-kiloton nuclear blast near the Pentagon kills approximately 22,000 people. The associated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disables thousands of vehicles in the greater Washington area, clogging major arteries. Two days later, "Topolian" bombers penetrate U.S./Canadian airspace--after several key radars are destroyed--and fire eight air-launched cruise missiles from somewhere over Canada. Four slip by U.S. and Canadian defenders, and one tactical nuclear device detonates at 2,000 ft.
Saudi Arabian low-fare startup Sama has finally received its air carrier license from the country's General Authority of Civil Aviation to operate domestic scheduled flights. Moreover, Sama's first two leased Boeing 737s are now in Saudi Arabia, ready for operations to begin.
The U.S. Navy's newly designated Northrop Grumman unmanned MQ-8B enhanced Fire Scout, which was upgraded from an RQ prefix because of its missile-firing capability, made its first flight Dec. 18 from the Webster Field annex of NAS Patuxent River, Md. The new design--with increased power, fuel and payload over the RQ-8A-- is identifiable by its four-blade main and tail rotors. The improvements serve to double mission radius and time on station over the initial model.
The Norwegian government is holding off on signing up for the next phase of the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter program, as it tries to ensure its industrial participation demands are met. JSF, the Saab Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon are the three contenders in Norway's competition for a combat aircraft modernization programs. If Oslo signs up for the JSF production, sustainment and follow-on development program, it will agree to continued involvement with the other fighter programs to avoid influencing the competition, says Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen.
Surging CFM56 business is helping Snecma ride out a downturn in its defense and communications activities and focus more on small turbojet and turboshaft engine projects.
The financial projections airlines develop as they prepare to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection are case studies in optimism, and Delta Air Lines' are no exception. Taking aim at US Airways' $8.4-billion hostile takeover bid, Delta is promising creditors stock in a $9.4-12-billion company with nothing but better days ahead.
Ryanair believes the European Commission's decision to further review anti-trust issues in the carrier's takeover bid of Aer Lingus is unfair, particularly when compared with the EC's actions in other mergers, notably Air France-KLM, where a go-ahead was given. The Air France-KLM merger was approved after one review, but Ryanair's plan is being put through a second, deeper phase of scrutiny. The low-fare carrier says it will still work to take over Aer Lingus.
Maintaining support for spending on aeronautics research is never easy, but U.S. Air Force Chief Scientist Mark Lewis has been a driving force in the Pentagon's commitment to furthering hypersonic flight. Lewis was an instrumental supporter of the Air Force's latest hypersonic prototype vehicle, the X-51, which he calls the "jewel in the crown of hypersonics." The X-51, which is supposed to reach speeds of Mach 6-7, is slated to fly in two years.
U.S. Army Brig. Gens. Theodore C. Nicholas and Patrick J. O'Reilly have been nominated for promotion to major general. Nicholas is deputy director of the Defense Joint Intelligence Operations Center of the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington. O'Reilly is program director for ground-based midcourse defense for the Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Ala.
Paris airports authority ADP has approved a controversial 2007-11 investment program that would see the group spend €2.4 billion on its facilities. Airlines have complained they have not been adequately consulted on the upgrades. One of the main spending items is construction of the S4 satellite at Charles de Gaulle airport, which is to open in 2012.
Corporate Angel Network Chairman Randall Greene, for continued charitable work in providing ambulatory cancer patients free air transport to treatment centers by offering seats on corporate aircraft. CAN coordinates schedules with the flight departments of 530 corporations to accommodate patients. Since CAN was founded in 1981, it has conducted 25,000 flights, helping about 200 patients per month. In October, it handled a record 253. Greene is the son of co-founder Leonard Greene, who died Nov.
An attempt to consolidate the U.K.'s guided-weapons sector continues to be hampered by national and international legal difficulties. Concern over U.S. law focuses on anti-trust issues, with U.K. and European competition legislation also under scrutiny. The ministry had been aiming to sign a strategic partnering agreement with industry by year-end, but this ambition has been stymied. Elements of the accord are intended to be legally binding.
Lt. Col. Robert Monroe, mission commander, 4th Expeditionary Special Operations Sqdn., for providing close air support to ground soldiers in Iraq with their AC-130U gunships, and Lt. Col. Ted Fordyce, mission commander, 16th Expeditionary Special Operations Sqdn., for providing close air support to ground soldiers in Afghanistan with their AC-130Hs. The 4th carries the distinction of firing the first shots from the air in the Iraq war during the spring of 2003. The 16th has been supporting ground soldiers in Afghanistan since Nov. 11, 2001.
It looks like a loss for American Airlines in the fourth quarter of 2006. The airline tells investors to expect a year-over-year increase of 3.8-4.8% in mainline passenger revenue per available seat mile, which translates into 9.93-10.03 cents. American estimates its mainline cost per ASM at 10.98 cents, however, even though its fuel price was down year-over-year to $1.91 per gallon from $2.02. Higher-than-expected non-fuel costs are attributed to flight cancellations caused by bad weather in late November and early December, and to higher aircraft maintenance costs.
